Downtown Las Vegas streets were utter chaos. Summer has been trying to make her way back to the hotel, but the crowd won’t let her through, and she’s trapped in the New Years Eve revelry. She’s on the verge of tears when a man appears out of nowhere and helps usher her to bench. That’s when she really falls apart, spilling her horrible evening to the man – Summer just found her fiancé in bed with another woman. What neither Summer or the man, James Wilkens, expected was the bond that one evening would create when he urged her to keep her head up and meet him back at that very spot at the Same Time, Next Year.
Debbie Macomber is a name synonymous with romance novels and Romance Writers of America have given her several awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award. Same Time, Next Year is the fourth installment in her Those Manning Men series, however, doesn’t follow a Manning man directly. Macomber delivers a beautiful love story without the love-at-first sight trope we see so often in romance novels. This book is really about making love work regardless of the challenges, and not allowing anyone to influence your decisions.
I give Same Time, Next Year 4 out of 5 stars. To be honest, this one barely squeaked out a 4-star rating. Macomber’s writings have been made into television movies, and this one definitely could shine on Hallmark. There were some events that didn’t feel plausible like Summer having the ability to enter her fiancé’s hotel room, and find him in bed with someone else, when he wasn’t expecting her. Hotels, especially in Vegas, don’t tend to hand out keys to other people’s rooms without their approval. I also felt like a handful of the characters could have been developed more – this opinion may change had I read the first three books in the series though. In the end, this isn’t a book I’d recommend to friends without prompting, but would suggest if they brought it up first.
I would recommend this book to romance novel lovers – the romance has a slow start the first few chapters, but is hot and heavy by the end. Given the vague discussions of sex, I would recommend this for more mature audiences over 13. If you have loved Macomber’s other works like the Cedar Cove or Heart of Texas series, you will love this one!
I chose Same Time, Next Year for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “New Years”. I was a bit concerned I wouldn’t be able to follow the story given that it is in the middle of the book series, but this made a good standalone read as well. This is the first read of the RWL 2024 Challenge. Want to know more about the challenge? Check out our original post here. If you’re looking for other options to use for this prompt, check out our weekly agenda for some suggestions!
Wishing you a Happy New Year and many blessings in 2024!
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